Drakon
The Drakon race is a fairly young race compared to some of the other races of Kharaak, though they live significantly long lives. Descendants of the extinct Dragons, Drakon have a great many traits passed on to them from their long-dead ancestors. Origin Around 75,000 years ago, the Dragons were engaged in a war with the ancient Vampires, Nospheratu. In the last couple centuries of the war, the Dragons had suffered great losses and were on the verge of extinction. In an attempt to preserve their heritage and knowledge, eight exemplars of the elements the dragons had learned to control gathered and begun to weave a spell. Long and intricate, the spell took almost 200 years to cast. The spell poured all of their knowledge, wisdom, and magic into a new life form. As the spell came to its end, the Nospheratu broke through the final defenses of the Dragons' realm and slew the eight exemplars. Unbeknownst to the Nospheratu, the Dragons had finished the spell, and only one step remained; pouring their lifeblood into their creation, thus giving it form. This new race was named Drakon, after its ancestors. After the spell was woven and the blood spilled, eight Drakon were created, each an exemplar of one element. Other History At the time of their creation, the Drakon set out to assimilate into the cultures of other races, both to hide from the remaining Nospheratu and to begin spawning their children. They looked most similar to Elves, so 5 of them divided amongst villages of both High Elves and Wood Elves, while the other three decided to assimilate into Dwarven society. Four hundred years later, they had finally begun to flourish and left their respective societies. None of them had held a position of power, so there was no damage done to the cultures. They formed their own capital in the Northern desert, near the ocean. It was not long before the remaining Nospheratu learned of them. The Nospheratu set out once more to wage war, except this time it was against the Drakon. Though the Nospheratu were much older, the war did not last long. The Drakon were greater in number and equal in strength. The Nospheratu failed to annihilate the Drakon and were brought to the brink of extinction. Only one had survived the war, which had only lasted a mere 17 months. 23,490 years ago, two of the Drakon Elders had decided to carry on their legacy by bearing a pure-blooded Drakon together. They bore the child and taught him everything they knew. After, he set out to study other cultures and martial arts.During this time, he assimilated with Wood Elves, High Elves, Dwarves, and Primals, spending centuries with each. After leaving the Primals, he became haunted by the ghost of race that was all but extinct. Dethcrow, the prodigy of the Drakon race, was attacked on his journey home from his pilgrimage. The foe was relentless and struck with wild abandon. Eventually, after hours of battle, Dethcrow had slain the attacker. It was only when he returned home that he learned the identity of the beast. It had been then last Nospheratu. He had slain the last of the Dragons', and Drakon's, oldest and most formidable foe at the age of 11,946. Culture Drakon culture is unique in its approach to nobility and status. Like the goernments of Elves, Humans, and Dwarves, the Drakon use a heirarchy, the top of which is seated by the Elders. The Elders each take up responsibility for one aspect of the community. For example, the Elder of Flames, Solyia, manages the religious learnings. The Elder of Discord, Daeroba, manages the Drakon armies. As for the rest of the heirarchy, following the Elders are nobles, Drakon who have achieved a great advancement for the race, in conquest, science, or trade; then the non-officer militia; merchants; and finally caregivers, which consist of wetnurses, daycare operators, and educators/clergy. All levels of the heirarchy are held in high regard, however, unlike more traditional heirarchies. Drakon architecture has been highly influenced by Elven, Dwarven, and Human architecture, being that originally, Drakon were only a race of eight and had to assimilate into other societies in order to begin their flourishing. In this manner, Drakon also learned an abundance of mannerisms and etiquette from the other races of the realm. These are taught in Drakon schooling, along with their own, and other races' religions. Religion Drakon religion honors their ancestors, the Dragons, and the elements that the Dragon exemplars each represented: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning, Light, Darkness, and Chaos. The Dragons who wove the spell to create the Drakon are revered as gods and still exist in spirit, comminucating with Drakon who are born with great potential or Drakon Elders who seek guidance when one of their kind has gone astray. Racial Traits Drakon, while looking Human or Elven in appearance, do have Dragonesque scales that can retract under their skin. These scales are as hard as those of a Dragon's, but are not as resistant to magic. They are also colored by element. Red for Fire, blue for water, green for Earth, crystalline for Air, yellow for Lightning, pure white for Light, pitch black for Darkness, and a swirling mixture of crimson and black for Chaos. These scales do provide slight resistance to the element (in natural occurrences) to which the Drakon was born. For example, a Drakon of Flames, whose scales would be a fiery red-orange, could wade through a pool of fire briefly before being affected; briefly meaning no more than a minute or two, depending on the Drakon's age. Drakon also have wings, which, like their scales, can retract into their bodies. Similarly to their scales, the coloration of their wings represent the elemental bloodline from which they were born. In combat, these wings provide both a great advantage and disadvantage. Aside from allowing flight in combat, they also provide Drakon a way to increase the power of their attacks and the effectiveness of their defenses, however the wings are not well-armored, thus creating a great weakness seeing as their wingspan usually ranges from 7 to 10 feet, though sometimes bigger or smaller. Along with the scales and wings, Drakon can also manipulate, and in some cases conjure, the physical manifestation of the element they were born to. In very rare cases, Drakon born with exceptional power have been able to exert such an excess of magical strength that they can change their own body, becoming an avatar of the Dragon whose bloodline they were born under. This ability greatly increases their strength and magical capability during the duration of the avatar state, but once they can no longer sustain it, they become entirely drained of energy, often to the point of unconsciousness or, in worse cases, ill health or death. Also, no Drakon can use this ability outside of great emotional stress (overwhelming anger, sense of loss, or sense of duty to protect something). As such, they also cannot freely drop out of this form. Drakon lifespans are currently estimated to be about 75,500 years, due to the fact that the original Drakon exemplars have not yet passed, though their age is starting to show. Unlike Dragons, whose power grows both mentally and physically as they grow older, Drakon reach a pinnacle of strength and fitness at around 50,000 years, then slowly begin to deteriorate in health after. In short, they age in much the same way as humans, but a thousand times slower.